Here is a look at the players who are on expiring contracts.
Liam Hendriks - Owner wants an extension, but it will likely cost too much. Coming off a really strong 2019 and just turned 31.
The plan with Liam is to keep him until the All Star break, then see what we can get for him in a trade.
T.J. McFarland - We might move him before we even get started with the sim just as a salary dump (if we can find a taker).
His career ERA is over 4 and WHIP is about 1.5.
His personality shows he "
has very little hustle".
Yusmeiro Petit - Similar to McFarland, we will see what we can get, but if no one will take him we will just hold on to him.
$5.5 million is a lot for a non-closing reliever (albeit one they use a ton).
He was helped out by an absurdly low BABIP against last season (.214 vs career .275), so we can expect some regression.
If he had 40 stamina (or maybe 45), I would be tempted to hold on to him as a possible starter option (in case of emergency), but he only has 30 stamina.
Mike Fiers - Since he ratted out the Astros we have to keep him, right? (Just joking)
Turning 35 soon and making over $8 million makes him an obvious choice to move.
He finds a way to keep the ERA low but gives up a ton of homers (35 movement on 20/80 scale). 1.4 HR/9 career.
Bob Melvin has him as the #5 starter and wants to use an
opener for him.
I don't know if we will find a taker for him, but we will try. Might be best to hold on to him to start, hope he does ok and builds up some trade value.
Joakim Soria - Soon to be 36, non-closing reliever making $8.5 million. Need I say more? Haha
What I do like about Soria is he has 4 above average pitches and his K/9 for his career is about 10.
I don't know what his "
value" will be on trade market, so it might be another wait and see approach.
Marcus Semien - This one is going to be tough. Personally, I think the 2019 season he had was a bit of an anomaly.
In 2637 MLB plate appearances before 2019, his OPS was .713. His 2018 OPS was .706 and in 2017 it was .722 (in only 85 games).
In 2016 he did hit 27 homers though, so the power might be legit.
He will turn 30 in September, but do we want to sign him to a long term deal if he is due for a decline?
If he can continue to walk more and strikeout less, he might find his way somewhere in the middle (.800 OPS?).
We will have to hold on to him until All Star break, see where we are at, and go from there.
Worst case scenario - we keep him and offer him the qualifying offer.
Robbie Grossman - $3.725 million for backup OF is too much for my liking. He is a good OBP guy (career .351), but we don't have room for him.
Also, he hasn't really played much CF in his MLB career (30 starts) and his defensive ratings are not great (60 range, 50 error & 45 arm).
I like to have my backup OF as a CF who can play LF or RF when someone needs a day off.
It also helps if they have a little speed/stealing for late game pinch running.
Non-Expiring Contracts
Mark Canha - He isn't on an
expiring contract, but he is making $4.8 million and only has one arbitration year left (initial estimate is $14 million for 2021).
He posted a .913 OPS in about 500 plate appearance last year and a .778 in 2018.
I think he is more likely to produce closer to 2018 than 2019.
It might be time to sell high on him, if there is anyone interested.
Jake Diekman - Just turned 33, $2.8 million for 2020 and $4 million for 2021 (team option for 2022).
I want to see how much Bob Melvin uses Jake before trading him away.
Too many walks for my liking (career 5 BB/9).
Stephen Piscotty - Just turned 29, $7 million for 2020, $7.25 million for 2021 and $7.25 million for 2022 (team option for 2023).
Coming off a down year his value isn't very high. If he can produce like 2018, he might be worth shopping.